Council of Europe

• Council of Europe
• Human Rights and Rule of Law
• Group of States against corruption (GRECO)

Group of States against Corruption publishes report on Albania

Press Release

Strasbourg, 17 September 2009 - Criminalisation of corruption and transparency of party funding in Albania are the focus of a report published by the Council of Europe’s Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) today.

Regarding the criminalisation of corruption [theme I], GRECO recognises that the criminal law of Albania complies to a large extent with the relevant provisions of the Council of Europe Criminal Law Convention on Corruption (ETS 173). Nonetheless, several deficiencies in current legislation were identified such as the limited application of existing provisions with regard to bribery of foreign and international public officials; the low level of sanctions available for bribery committed in the private sector; and several loopholes relating to the jurisdiction over offences of bribery and trading in influence committed abroad. The practical implementation of the relevant criminal legislation needs to be enhanced.

Concerning transparency of party funding [theme II], the report acknowledges that Albania is currently engaged in a promising reform process aimed at remedying the low level of transparency in Albanian political financing. The new Electoral Code, in force since January 2009, introduces a new system of transparency and monitoring of election campaign financing. GRECO stresses that concrete measures will now be necessary to effectively implement the new regulations. Above all, an independent and powerful mechanism for monitoring both election campaign financing and general party funding – as opposed to the current ineffective regime of responsibilities shared between various institutions – needs to be developed. Furthermore, there is a clear necessity to align the Law on Political Parties with the standards of the new Electoral Code in respect of transparency, supervision and enforcement. The Albanian authorities are asked to pursue their efforts to establish and implement a comprehensive system of transparency of political financing.

Prepared within the framework of GRECO’s Third Evaluation Round, the report as whole addresses 12 recommendations to Albania. GRECO will assess the implementation of these recommendations towards the end of 2010, through its specific compliance procedure.

Report: Criminalisation of Corruption / Transparency of Party Funding

Additional information on GRECO evaluation rounds and reports